Detergents or cleaning agents are usually present in solid form (as a powder, for example) or in liquid form (or also as a flowing gel). Liquid detergents or cleaning agents in particular are increasingly popular with consumers.
Solid detergents or cleaning agents have the advantage that, unlike liquid detergents or cleaning agents, do not require any preservatives. Liquid product formats are increasingly gaining acceptance in the market, particularly due to their quick solubility and the resulting quick availability of the active ingredients they contain. This gives the consumer the option of using abbreviated rinse cycles while still obtaining good cleaning performance.
Furthermore, consumers have grown accustomed to the convenient metering of preportioned machine detergents or cleaning agents, such as dishwashing detergents, and use these products in the form of tablets (solid detergents or cleaning agents) or in the form of pouches that are filled with what is usually a liquid detergent or cleaning agent, although powder-filled pouches are possible as single-use portions. Single-use portions in water-soluble pouches are popular with consumers not only because they no longer come into contact with the chemical composition, but rather not least because of the attractive appearance of the pouches. The appearance of the dosage form is becoming increasingly important. Besides good cleaning performance and sufficient storage stability, a good appearance is one of the reasons on which the selection of a product is based. However, products that are stored in pouches frequently change their visual appearance, which consumers often associate with reduced capacity and degraded cleaning performance.
From the perspective of consumers, it would be desirable to combine the advantages of both product formats and make available a dosage form that is improved compared to the prior art, particularly for detergents or cleaning agents that are usually liquids. Both single-use portioning and a visual appearance that is attractive to consumers should be achieved simultaneously. Surprisingly, it was found that this object can be achieved through the formulation of a flexible phase that is combined with a solid phase.